Method of controlling a communication terminal having a plurality of functions, communication terminal apparatus, communication control system

ABSTRACT

When a radio communication is made between a predetermined base station and a communication terminal, the communication terminal is allowed to make a communication if a predetermined registration processing is made. If the above registration processing is not executed, then predetermined functions other than a communication function of the communication terminal are limited. Moreover, when a predetermined operation mode is set by an operation means, at least a transmission processing at a radio communication means is stopped and an execution of predetermined functions other than the radio communication processing is not restricted. Thus, when a communication terminal apparatus incorporates therein other functions than an audio reproducing function, operation of such function can be limited properly. Moreover, when other functions such as an audio reproducing function are incorporated into a communication terminal apparatus, operations of the functions thus incorporated can be limited properly and the communication functions can be stopped properly.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional application of application Ser. No.09/784,552 filed Feb. 16, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,889,043, thedisclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein, andclaims priority from Japanese Application Nos. 2000-043215 filed Feb.21, 2000, and 2000-145387 filed May 17, 2000.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a method of controlling a communicationterminal and a communication terminal apparatus for use with a radiotelephone apparatus called a portable telephone terminal and acommunication system using such communication terminal apparatus, forexample. More specifically, this invention relates to a method ofcontrolling the execution of the functions in a communication terminalhaving one or more functions different from a communication function, acommunication terminal apparatus and a communication system using suchcommunication terminal.

2. Description of the Related Art

Heretofore, there have been proposed various combined terminals whichare communication terminal apparatus for use as radio telephoneapparatus having other functions different from a telephone functioncombined therewith. Since radio telephone apparatus are generallydesigned to be compact in size so that users can usually carry them whenin use, there are radio telephone apparatus having a radio telephonefunction and extra functions such as a clock function and a schedulemanaging function to display necessary information such as timeinformation and schedule information on a display device of a terminalapparatus.

As a storage capacity of a semiconductor memory is increasing and anaudio data compression technology is improving in recent years, a memoryincorporated within a memory card becomes able to store audio data ofapproximately several 10s of minutes to several hours, for example.Small reproducing apparatus having this memory card as a recordingmedium (storage medium) and a headphone are now commercially availableas audio players capable of reproducing audio data or sounds so thatusers can listen to reproduced audio data or sounds through theheadphone.

There is proposed a highly-capable combined terminal having an audioreproducing apparatus incorporated within a portable terminal apparatus.Because the portable telephone terminal incorporates the audioreproducing apparatus using the above memory as the recording medium,when the portable telephone terminal is not in use as a telephone formaking a telephone conversation, a user can listen to audio data orsounds reproduced through the headphone attached to the portabletelephone terminal. With this arrangement, services of portabletelephone terminals can be expanded.

The above portable telephone terminal can download audio data on thememory card attached thereon from a center through a radio telephonenetwork line, for example, and can store the audio data thus downloadedin the memory card. Therefore, users can get audio data with ease, whichis very convenient for users.

A distribution service for distributing audio data to the above portabletelephone terminal incorporating the audio reproducing apparatus may bea pay distribution service. Since it has been customary that such paydistribution service is under control of a telephone company foroperating a radio telephone system, the telephone company may collectcharges for the pay distribution services from users. Even when theaudio data distribution service is free, the telephone company usuallyserves the free audio distribution to the users of the portabletelephone terminals as one of additional services. Therefore, withrespect to the above free audio distribution service, it is desirablethat only those who had contracted with the telephone company should beserved.

Further, since the audio reproducing apparatus of the portable telephoneterminal is essentially the portable telephone terminal, the telephonecompany may charge for the audio data distribution service each time auser reproduces audio data by the portable telephone terminal.Specifically, when audio data that has been downloaded on the portabletelephone terminal is reproduced, a real time accounting is madepossible by transmitting data indicating the reproduction of audio datato the center of the radio telephone company through the telephonenetwork line. In this manner, when the portable telephone terminalincorporates the audio reproducing apparatus, the audio datadistribution service becomes possible under the condition that acopyright concerning the reproduction of music can be protectedreliably.

On the other hand, since it is customary that the telephone companysells the portable telephone terminal incorporating the audioreproducing apparatus to the contractors of the telephone network line,even when a user who is a contractor of the telephone network line hascanceled the contract of the radio telephone network line, the portabletelephone terminal itself still remains for the user. If the portabletelephone terminal the contract of which has been canceled is used asthe audio reproducing apparatus, then a user become able to freelylisten to downloaded audio data reproduced from the audio reproducingapparatus out of control of the telephone company, which is undesirablefrom a copyright protection standpoint.

There are places and situations in which a use of the portable telephoneterminals should preferably be prohibited. In such places and situation,users are usually requested to switch off the portable telephoneterminal and a use of the terminal should be prohibited. In hospitals,for example, in order to protect medical equipment from malfunctioningdue to radio waves from the portable telephone terminals, it isrecommended that users should switch off the portable telephoneterminals. This applies for the portable telephone terminalincorporating the audio reproducing apparatus as well so that users arerequested to switch off the portable telephone terminals in thehospital. However, at the same time the power-switch of the portabletelephone terminal is turned off, the audio reproducing functionassembled into the portable telephone terminal also is de-energized sothat a user cannot listen to a piece of music reproduced by the audioreproducing function incorporated in the portable telephone terminalthrough the headphone attached to the portable telephone terminal in thewaiting room of the hospital, for example.

While the problem encountered with the portable telephone terminalincorporating the audio reproducing apparatus has been described so far,there arises a similar problem when a similar communication terminalincorporates other functions which are not directly related to radiocommunications.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the aforesaid aspect, it is an object of the presentinvention to properly limit operations of other functions when acommunication terminal apparatus incorporates other functions.

It is another object of the present invention to select the operatingsituations of respective functions when a communication terminalapparatus incorporates functions other than the communication function.

According to an aspect of the present invention, when a predeterminedbase station and a communication terminal communicate with each other byradio waves, a communication at the communication terminal is permittedif a predetermined registration processing is made. Further, apredetermined function other than a communication function of thecommunication terminal is limited if the above registration processingis not made. With the above arrangement, only when the communicationterminal is correctly registered for communication, the predeterminedfunction of the communication terminal becomes available.

According to another aspect of the present invention, in the radiocommunication terminal which communicates with a predetermined basestation by radio waves, when a predetermined operation mode is set bythe operating means, at least the transmission processing at the radiocommunication means is stopped and the execution of predeterminedfunctions other than the radio communication processing is notrestricted.

With the above arrangement, when the predetermined operation mode isset, only the processing concerning the radio communication function isstopped and other predetermined functions can be executed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a terminal apparatus according toan embodiment of the present invention while the terminal apparatus isbeing opened;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the surface of the terminalapparatus shown in FIG. 1 while the terminal apparatus is being closed;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the back of the terminal apparatusshown in FIG. 1 while the terminal apparatus is being closed;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the internal arrangement of theterminal apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart to which reference will be made in explaining oneof operations executed when the terminal apparatus is operated;

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a messagedisplayed when the terminal apparatus is operated as shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart to which reference will be made in explainingother example of operations executed when the terminal apparatus isoperated according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a timing chart to which reference will be made in explainingthe manner in which a reject signal is received in the flowchart of FIG.7;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart to which reference will be made in explaining afurther example of operations executed when the terminal apparatus isoperated according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a messagedisplayed when the terminal apparatus is operated as shown in FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart to which reference will be made in explaining themanner in which the terminal apparatus is operated when the terminalapparatus is placed in the telephone function stop mode according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing an example of a power-supplyarrangement which can realize the telephone function stop mode accordingto an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing other example of a power-supplyarrangement which can realize the telephone function stop mode accordingto an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing a further example of a power-supplyarrangement which can realize the telephone function stop mode accordingto an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing an example in which a processingaccording to an embodiment of the present invention is applied to aterminal apparatus having a different arrangement.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The present invention will be described below with reference to theaccompanying drawings.

In this embodiment, the present invention is applied to a radiotelephone apparatus (portable telephone terminal) which can make atelephone call or a data communication by transmitting digital data ofvarious systems between it and a base station via radio waves, forexample. The portable telephone terminal according to this embodimentincorporates an audio reproducing function section in addition to aradio telephone function section.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of an outward appearanceof a portable telephone terminal 100 according to an embodiment of thepresent invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the portable telephone terminal100 according to this embodiment is a portable telephone terminal of aso-called flip type in which a first housing 110 and a second housing120 can be rotatably joined by a joint portion 101. FIG. 1 shows theportable telephone terminal 100 with its respective housings 110, 120being opened. The first housing 110 has on its inside face a keypadportion 111 comprised of a plurality of keys when the portable telephoneterminal 100 is opened for use as a cellular phone. Keys prepared on thekeypad portion 111 are numeral keys such as 0 to 9, symbol keys such as#, keys for making a telephone call and keys for setting variousfunctions. Of the above function keys, a key 111 a is used to set andcancel a mode in which the telephone function is stopped and only anaudio reproducing function, which will be described later on, isoperated. In the following description, the mode in which the telephonefunction is stopped and only the audio reproducing function is operatedwill be referred to as a “telephone function stop mode”, and the key 111a will be referred to as a “telephone function stop mode setting key”.Details of the telephone function stop mode will be described later on.

Keys 111 b,111 c are disposed on the second housing 120. The firsthousing 110 has on its side wall a jog dial (registered trademark)portion 112 which can be rotated and depressed by a user. Variousoperations are made possible when a user operates the jog dial portion112. A user can operate the audio reproducing function by operating thejog dial portion 112.

The first housing 110 has on its lower end a microphone 113 to enableusers to make a telephone call. The second housing 120 has on its upperend a speaker 122 for making a telephone conversation. A user becomesable to make a telephone call by putting the microphone 113 and thespeaker 122 close to the mouth and the ear. The second housing 120 hasat its center a display panel comprising a display portion 123. Thedisplay portion 123 is able to display the state in which the portabletelephone terminal 100 is being operated and a variety of dataconcerning the telephone such as registered telephone numbers andreceived character mails in the form of numerals, characters, graphicsand the like. The display portion 123 can also display messagesconcerning an audio reproduction function which will be described lateron.

The first housing 110 is provided with a memory card loading slot 114. Amemory card 10 in which predetermined data can be stored/read can beinserted from the side wall of the first housing 110 into the memorycard loading slot 114, for example. The memory card 10 that can be usedin this embodiment might be a memory card in which a nonvolatilesemiconductor memory is housed within a stick-like (rectangular thinplate-like) resin package.

The second housing 120 has a whip antenna 121 attached to its upper endand also, has various terminals located at its side wall. Specifically,a headphone jack 124, an audio input jack 125 and a data communicationport 126 are located on the side wall of the second housing 120. Theheadphone jack 124 is integrally comprised of an output section foroutputting an audio signal (including a sound signal) supplied to aheadphone device, an input section for inputting an audio signal pickedup by a microphone incorporated within the headphone device and an inputand output section for communicating with a remote control deviceattached to the headphone device. The data communication port 126 isused to connect the portable telephone terminal 100 to a suitable devicesuch as a personal computer. Specifically, the data communication port126 might be a standard interface port called a USB (Universal SerialBus) or an IEEE (The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)1394 standard interface port.

A headphone device 20 includes a plug 21 which is connected to theheadphone jack 124, and a remote control portion 22 is attached tosomewhere of a signal line of the headphone device 20. The remotecontrol portion 22 has a display portion 23, a key 24, a volume 25 and amicrophone 26 attached thereto. Left and right headphone units 27L, 27Rare attached to the tip end portion of the signal line extended from thebody of the headphone device 20.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the front (i.e., surface of thesecond housing 120) of the portable telephone terminal 100 of thisembodiment while the portable telephone terminal 100 is being closed. Onthis surface, there are disposed a plurality of keys 111 d for operatingthe portable telephone terminal 100 to reproduce audio data and volumekeys 111 e for adjusting a sound volume of reproduced sounds. Further,there is disposed a speaker 143 for emanating reproduced audio data orsounds. The speaker 143 is also used to emanate ring tones when anincoming call arrives at the portable telephone terminal 100.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the back (i.e., surface of thefirst housing 110) of the portable telephone terminal 100 of thisembodiment while the portable telephone terminal 100 is being closed. Onthis surface, there are disposed a battery loading portion 151 and aneject switch 152 for removing the memory card 10 from the memory cardloading slot 114 (FIG. 1).

Next, the internal arrangement of the portable telephone terminal 100according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 4.

As shown in FIG. 4, as circuits for use in the radio telephone, anantenna 121 is connected through an antenna sharing unit 131 to areceiving circuit 132 and a transmitting circuit 134. The receivingcircuit 132 receives data of an instructed channel and supplies areceived signal to an audio processing section 133. The audio processingsection 133 demodulates the received signal to provide an audio signaland various data transmitted via radio waves. Further, the audio signalis outputted from the speaker 122. The audio processing section 133receives an audio signal from the microphone 113 and processes thereceived audio signal in a suitable manner such as modulating the audiosignal so that the modulated audio signal can be transmitted via radiowaves. The transmitting circuit 134 processes the signal thus processedto provide a transmission signal of a predetermined channel and suppliesthe transmission signal to the antenna 121. The transmission signal istransmitted from the antenna 121 through radio waves.

The audio processing section 133, the receiving circuit 132 and thetransmitting circuit 134 are operated to execute the processing undercontrol of a CPU (central processing unit) 135. The CPU 135 is amicroprocessor by which the processing of various kinds of signalswithin this portable telephone terminal 100 can be controlled. The audioreproduction function also can be controlled by the CPU 135.

The CPU 135 is connected with a ROM (read-only memory) 136 in whichinformation required by the portable telephone terminal 100 to operateis stored and a RAM (random-access memory) 137 in which information suchas phone book information registered by a user is stored so that the CPU135 can read out information from the ROM 136 and the RAM 137 at anytime. The ROM 136 might be a flash memory in which a part of stored datacan be rewritten by a predetermined processing and in which registrationinformation concerning the, telephone function can be written.Registration information concerning the telephone function stored in theROM 136 might be ID (identification) data which is an identificationnumber inherent in this telephone terminal 100, information indicativeof the existence of the contract to the radio telephone company,information of telephone number assigned to a user from the telephonecompany when a user has contracted with the telephone company, etc. If acontract concerning the audio reproduction function is required, theninformation of the contract concerning the audio reproduction functionmay be stored in the ROM 136.

Information obtained when a user operates the keypad portion 111 and thejog dial portion 112 is supplied to the CPU 135, and the CPU 135 enablesthe keypad portion 111 and the jog dial portion 112 to be operated basedon the operation information. Display operation on the display portion123 also can be controlled by the CPU 135.

The arrangement that has been described so far is fundamentally thearrangement concerning the telephone function of the portable telephoneterminal 100. The antenna sharing unit 131, the receiving circuit 132,the audio processing section 133 and the transmitting circuit 133 shownin FIG. 4 will be referred to as a “telephone processing section 100 a”.

Next, an arrangement concerning the audio reproduction function of theportable telephone terminal 100 will be described below.

In this embodiment, data which results from compressing audio data by apredetermined system (e.g., ATRAC3 (Adaptive Transform Acoustic Coding3) system) can be stored in the memory card 10. When the memory card 10in which this audio data is stored is inserted into the memory cardloading slot 114, data stored in the memory card 10 is supplied to adecoder 138 under control of the CPU 135. The decoder 138 expands thecompressed data to provide original data and supplies the resultantoriginal data to a D/A (digital-to-analog) converter 139. The D/Aconverter 139 converts the data supplied from the decoder 138 to providean analog audio signal and supplies the analog audio signal thusconverted to an output terminal 124 a. This output terminal 124 a is theterminal disposed in the inside of the headphone jack 124 shown in FIG.1.

The output from the D/A converter 139 and the telephone conversationaudio output from the audio processing section 133 are added by an adder140 and an added signal is developed at the output terminal 124 a. Thus,when a user operates the portable telephone terminal 100 in order tomake a telephone conversation, the user can listen to sounds of atelephone conversation reproduced from the headphone device 20. Then,the audio signal is supplied to the headphone device 20 connected to theoutput terminal 124 a and thereby outputted. The analog audio signaloutputted from the D/A converter 139 may be processed in such an analogsignal processing fashion as to be amplified, if necessary.

The analog audio signal outputted from the D/A converter 139 can besupplied through an amplifier 142 to the speaker 143 attached to thesurface of the portable telephone terminal 100 and thereby outputtedfrom the speaker 143. The output system of the D/A converter 139 isselected under control of the CPU 135.

The audio reproduction function section according to this embodimentincludes also a recording function to record (store) an inputted audiosignal (including a sound signal) on the memory card 10 inserted intothe memory card loading slot 114. For this recording function, theportable telephone terminal 100 includes a digital audio data inputterminal 125. Audio data applied to the input terminal 125 is suppliedto the decoder 138. The decoder 138 according to this embodiment canalso function as an encoder for encoding inputted data so that theinputted data can be recorded. Under control of the CPU 135, dataencoded by the encoder 138 is stored in the memory card 10 inserted intoto the memory card loading slot 114. The decoding and the encoding atthe decoder 138 are based on the system suitable for processing audiodata such as music data.

The headphone jack 124 shown in FIG. 1 includes an input terminal 124 bto which an audio signal is inputted from a microphone incorporatedwithin the headphone 20 and a remote control input and output terminal124 c in addition to the output terminal 124 a shown in FIG. 4. An audiosignal applied to the input terminal 124 b may be supplied through anA/D (analog-to-digital) converter 141 to the decoder 138, in which itmay be encoded similarly to the audio data and stored in the memory card10. An audio signal applied to the input terminal 124 b from themicrophone may be supplied to the audio processing section 133, in whichit can be processed as telephone conversation sounds similarly to thesounds inputted from the microphone 113. The remote control input andoutput terminal 124 c is the terminal by which the CPU 135 cancommunicate with the remote control portion 22 within the headphonedevice 20. The CPU 135 controls a display on the display portion 23within the remote control portion 22 and judges operation informationobtained when the key 24 is operated. If a remote control signal issuperimposed upon the audio signal (sound signal), then the remotecontrol input and output terminal 124 c can be formed as a terminalcommon to the output terminal 124 a. The decoder (encoder) 138, the D/Aconverter 139 and the A/D converter 141 shown in FIG. 4 will be referredto as a “recording and reproducing section 100 b”.

The portable telephone terminal 100 according to this embodimentincludes a data communication port 126 to communicate with aninformation device such as a personal computer. An I/F (interface)section 144 is connected to the data communication port 126 so that theCPU 135 and the decoder 138 can communicate with devices of the partybeing called connected to the data communication port 126 through theI/F section 144. When the portable telephone terminal 100 communicateswith an external device through this data communication port 126, audiodata supplied to the data communication port 126 from the externaldevice, for example, may be supplied to the decoder 138, in which it maybe compressed for recording (storage) and the resultant compressed datamay be stored in the memory card 10 inserted into the memory cardloading slot 114 or audio data stored in the memory card 10 may beexpanded by the decoder 138 and the resultant expanded data may besupplied to the device connected to the data communication port 126.Further, in this communication, data that the portable telephoneterminal 100 has received via the radio telephone network line may besupplied to the data communication port 126 under control of the CPU 135and thereby supplied to the external device. Conversely, data suppliedto the data communication port 126 from the external device may betransmitted to the radio telephone network line under control of the CPU135.

Furthermore, various data such as audio data received by the receivingcircuit 132 of this portable telephone terminal 100 through the radiotelephone network line may be stored in the memory card 10 under controlof the CPU 135. In this case, if the received data is data that wasalready encoded for storage, then the received data need not be encodedby the encoder 138 and may be written in the memory of the memory card10.

As described above, the portable telephone terminal according to thisembodiment incorporates the function section capable of recording(storing) and reproducing audio data and sound data. In this embodiment,since the memory card 10 is detachable from the memory card loading slot114, the memory card 10 in which audio data is stored from other audiodevice, for example, may be loaded onto the portable telephone terminal100 and thereby reproduced.

In accordance with this embodiment, the operation of the reproducingfunction section incorporated within this portable telephone terminal100 is limited in relation to the operation of the telephone terminal.The manner in which the operation of the reproducing function section islimited will be described below.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart to which reference will be made in explaining themanner in which the operation of the reproducing function section islimited.

Referring to FIG. 5, and following the start of operation, it isdetermined at a decision step S11 whether or not a user has operated theremote control portion 22 attached to the headphone device 20 or thekeypad portion 111 attached to the portable telephone terminal 100 toenergize the reproducing function section to reproduce or record audiodata or sound data. If the user has executed the corresponding operationas represented by a YES at the decision step S11, then control goes tothe next decision step S12, whereat it is determined whether or notinformation concerning a telephone registration is stored in the ROM 136connected to the CPU 135. In this decision step S12, it is determinedwhether or not telephone number information allocated to this portableterminal apparatus 100, for example, is stored in the ROM 136.Alternatively, if information concerning the existence of the telephoneregistration is directly stored in the ROM 136, then it is determinedbased on the information concerning the existence of the telephoneregistration whether or not telephone number information allocated tothis portable terminal apparatus 100 is stored in the ROM 136.

If information concerning the existence of the telephone registration isnot stored in the ROM 136 as represented by a NO at the decision stepS12, then control goes to a step S13, whereat a message indicating thatthe audio reproducing (recording) function is invalid is displayed onthe display portion 123 of the portable telephone terminal 100 or thedisplay portion 23 of the remote control section 22, for example, andthe CPU 135 limits the reproduction (recording) processing of datastored in the memory card 10. At that very moment, the display portion123 may display a message “AUDIO FUNCTION IS NOT AVAILABLE” as shown inFIG. 6, for example.

If the portable telephone terminal is a portable telephone terminal inwhich information concerning the telephone registration is stored in thememory 136 as represented by a YES at the decision step S12, thencontrol goes to the next decision step S14, whereat it is determinedwhether or not the amount of remaining energy obtainable from asecondary battery (not shown) incorporated within the portable telephoneterminal 100 is greater than the amount of remaining energy capable ofreproducing or recording audio data. In this embodiment, it is assumedthat audio data can be reproduced or recorded when the amount ofremaining energy obtainable from the secondary battery is greater than30%. If the amount of remaining energy obtainable from the secondarybattery is less than 30%, then such amount of remaining energyobtainable from the secondary battery is assumed to be enough to make anoutgoing call or to receive an incoming call so that the reproducingfunction section of the portable telephone terminal is inhibited frombeing energized If the amount of remaining energy obtainable from thesecondary battery is less than the amount of remaining energy obtainablefrom the secondary battery to reproduce or record audio data asrepresented by a NO at the decision step S14, then control goes to astep S15, whereat the display portion 123 of the portable telephoneterminal 100, for example, may display a message indicating that audiodata cannot be reproduced (recorded) in shortage of the amount ofremaining energy obtainable from the secondary battery. Then, the CPU135 limits the reproduction (recording) of data stored in the memorycard 10.

If on the other hand the amount of remaining energy obtainable from thesecondary battery is sufficient as represented by a YES at the decisionstep S14, then control goes to a step S16, whereat the reproductionoperation or the recording operation based on the operation judged atthe step S11 is started.

In this manner, when the operation of the reproducing (recording)function section incorporated within the portable telephone terminal 100is limited, if this portable telephone terminal 100 is a terminalapparatus that a user has not made a contract with the telephone companyor the like, then such terminal apparatus can be inhibited from beingused as a reproducing apparatus or a recording apparatus. Hence, thetelephone company which manages the portable telephone terminals canproperly manage the function incorporated within the portable telephoneterminal 100.

While the function is limited based on the existence of the registrationinformation stored in the memory (ROM) 136 of the portable telephoneterminal 100 in the example shown in FIG. 5, the present invention isnot limited thereto and the function may be limited based on informationreceived by the portable telephone terminal 100 through a radiotelephone network line (radio telephone network line includes a networkline through which controlling data or the like is transmitted andreceived). FIG. 7 is a flowchart to which reference will be made inexplaining the manner in which the function is limited based oninformation received by the portable telephone terminal 100 through thetelephone network line. As shown in FIG. 7, the decision step S12 in theflowchart of FIG. 5 is replaced with a decision step S21, at which it isdetermined whether or not information which makes the audio functionbecome invalid is received. Other steps in the flowchart of FIG. 7 arethe same as those of the flowchart of FIG. 5 and therefore need not bedescribed.

With respect to the information which makes the audio function becomeinvalid received at the step S21, when a position registration requestsignal is transmitted to the base station side of the radio telephonesystem in order to register the position of the portable telephoneterminal 100, for example, if a reject signal for rejecting the positionregistration is received as an answer to the position registrationrequest signal, then such reject signal may be judged as the informationwhich makes the audio function become invalid.

FIG. 8 shows the manner in which this reject signal is received. In FIG.8, let it be assumed that a user brings the portable telephone terminal100 that has been so far contracted with the radio telephone company,for example, to an agency of the telephone company and cancels thecontract of the portable telephone terminal at a step S51. At that verymoment, contract information (telephone number information) that hadbeen stored in the portable telephone terminal 100 need not be erased.At a step S52, the agency that has canceled this contract lets themanagement center of the telephone company know that the contract of theportable telephone terminal 100 of the corresponding ID number has beencanceled. After the management center of the telephone company has gotthis notice, if the position registration request signal is transmittedfrom the portable telephone terminal 100 of the same ID number at a stepS53, then it is judged by the management center that the portabletelephone terminal of that ID number is not the portable telephoneterminal which is contracted with the telephone company. Then, at a stepS54, the management center transmits the reject signal for rejecting theposition registration to the portable telephone terminal, and theportable telephone terminal which has received this reject signal ismade unable to make an outgoing call or to receive an incoming call as aradio telephone terminal.

The transmission of the position registration request signal at the stepS53 is executed as an initial operation executed when the power switchof the portable telephone terminal 100, for example, is turned on. Whilethe portable telephone terminal is being operated after the power switchthereof had been turned on, when the current position of the portabletelephone terminal is changed and base station ID which will be receivedby the portable telephone terminal 100 is changed accordingly, theposition registration request signal may be transmitted from theportable telephone terminal. While the user has proposed to cancel thecontract of the portable telephone terminal in the example of FIG. 8, ifit is determined by the telephone company that the user has used theportable telephone terminal illegally (or the user has not paidtelephone charges), then the management center handles the portabletelephone terminal 100 of the corresponding ID number as a canceledportable telephone terminal and limits the function of such canceledportable telephone terminal.

In this manner, when the operation of the reproducing (recording)function section incorporated within the portable telephone terminal islimited based on data that has been received at the terminal via radiowaves, information and the like stored in the flash memory within thisportable telephone terminal 100 need not be rewritten and the functionsincorporated within the portable telephone terminal 100 can properly bemanaged by only the processing at the telephone company side whichmanages the portable telephone terminals.

While it has been positively determined based on the stored data and thereceived data by the portable telephone terminal 100 that the contractof the portable telephone terminal was canceled as described above, thepresent invention is not limited thereto and the functions of theportable telephone terminal may be limited based on only the state inwhich the portable telephone terminal is in use. FIG. 9 is a flowchartto which reference will be made in explaining the manner in which thefunction of the portable telephone terminal is limited based on thestate in which the portable telephone terminal is in use.

As shown in FIG. 9, the decision step S12 in the flowchart of FIG. 5 isreplaced with a decision step S31, whereat it is determined whether ornot a time period in which the portable telephone terminal used as theradio telephone makes an outgoing call or receives an incoming calllasts longer than a predetermined time period (30 days or longer). If auser has not used the portable telephone terminal as the telephone tomake an outgoing call or to receive an incoming call more than 30 daysas represented by a YES at the decision step S31, then control goes tothe step S13. Other steps in the flowchart of FIG. 9 are the same asthose of FIG. 5 and therefore need not be described.

An example of a message displayed at the step S13 in the case of thisflowchart of FIG. 9 may be a message “AUDIO FUNCTION IS LOCKED. LOCK ISCANCELED WHEN MAKING AN OUTGOING CALL” as shown in FIG. 10, letting auser know that the limit of the audio function is canceled when the useroperates the portable telephone terminal as the telephone.

In this manner, when the operation of the reproducing (recording)function section within the portable telephone terminal is limited basedon only the state in which the portable telephone terminal itself is inuse, it becomes possible to properly manage the function incorporatedinto the portable telephone terminal 100. Specifically, in the aboveexample, the audio reproducing function section incorporated into thisportable telephone terminal becomes unavailable after 30 days passedsince the contract of the portable telephone terminal as the telephoneterminal had been canceled. Hence, the reproducing function section canbe prevented from being used unlimitedly by the portable telephoneterminal which has no contract with the telephone company.

Next, a telephone function stop mode incorporated within the radiotelephone terminal 100 according to this embodiment will be described.Since the radio telephone apparatus (terminal) according to thisembodiment incorporates the audio reproducing function sectioncomprising the recording and reproducing section 100 b and itsperipheral circuits as already described, when a user operates thetelephone function stop mode setting key 111 a (see FIG. 1), it ispossible to stop only the radio telephone function which is the radiocommunication function. The setting of the mode for partly stopping thefunction is realized under control of the CPU 135 which controlsoperations of the respective sections within the radio telephoneterminal, for example.

A flowchart of FIG. 11 shows an example of operations executed when thetelephone function stop mode is set under control of the CPU 135.Referring to FIG. 11, and following the start of operation, if it isdetermined at a decision step S41 by the CPU 135 that a user sets thecorresponding mode by operating the telephone function stop mode settingkey 111 a, then control goes to the next decision step S42, whereat itis determined whether or not the current operating situation is such onein which music (or sound) data stored in the memory card 10 is beingreproduced by using the recording and reproducing section 100 b. If thecurrent operating situation is the reproducing operation as representedby a YES at the decision step S42, then control goes to a step S43,whereat a radio telephone standby processing at the telephone processingsection 100 a is turned off, and the portable telephone terminal iscontrolled so as not to communicate with the base station through radiowaves. Then, control goes to a step S44, whereat the reproduction of apiece of music is continued.

If the current operating situation is not the music (sound) datareproducing operation as represented by a NO at the decision step S42,then control goes to a decision step S45, whereat it is determinedwhether or not the telephone function stop mode presented at that verymoment is the mode in which music data can be reproduced. If thetelephone function stop mode is previously set by user's registrationoperation as a mode for stopping the music reproducing function asrepresented by a NO at the decision step S45, then control goes to astep S46, whereat the music reproducing function using the recording andreproducing section 100 b also is turned off under control of the CPU135. If on the other hand the mode is the mode which can reproduce musicdata as represented by a YES at the decision step S45, then after theprocessing at the step S46 was finished, the radio telephone standbyprocessing at the telephone processing section 100 a is turned off (stepS47), and the portable telephone terminal is controlled so as not tocommunicate with the base station via radio waves.

If the telephone function stop mode setting key 111 a is operated underthe situation in which this telephone function stop mode is set, thenthe function section that had been turned off when such mode is set isturned on. For example, under the situation in which the telephonefunction stop mode is set, if the power switch of the whole of theportable telephone terminal 100 is turned off by operating thepower-supply key of this radio telephone terminal 100, then when thepower switch of the potable telephone terminal 100 is again turned on bythe following operation of the power-supply key, the telephone functionstop mode is canceled. Alternatively, when the power switch of theportable telephone terminal 100 is again turned on, the telephonefunction setting mode may be set. These mode setting situationspresented when the portable telephone terminal is powered again may beregistered by previously selecting any one of these processing accordingto the user setting, for example.

FIG. 12 is a schematic block diagram showing an example of anarrangement in which the on-off control of the telephone function at thetelephone processing section 100 a and the on-off control of therecording and reproducing section 100 b shown in the flowchart of FIG.11 are realized under control of the CPU 135. In this example,operations of the respective sections are executed and stopped bycontrolling the supply of the power-source voltage to the respectivesections 100 a, 100 b from the power-supply circuit 161. Specifically, apower-supply switch 162 is connected to a path through which a power issupplied to the telephone processing section 100 a from the power-supplycircuit 161. A power-supply switch 163 is connected to a path throughwhich a power is supplied to the recording and reproducing section 100 bfrom the power-supply circuit 161. The on-off of the two power-supplyswitches 162, 163 is controlled based on the mode setting situationunder control of the CPU 135. The power-supply circuit 161 is adapted toconvert a voltage outputted from a battery housed within the portabletelephone terminal 100 into a voltage which is used to energize therespective circuits within the portable telephone terminal 100. With theabove arrangement, modes can be set satisfactorily under control of theCPU 135. When the telephone function stop mode is set, this portabletelephone terminal 100 cannot await an incoming call and cannot make anoutgoing call.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing an example of an arrangement requiredwhen modes are set without the CPU 135. In this example, there isprovided a mode change-over switch 164 which is continuously changed inposition in response to the depressions of the telephone function stopmode setting key 111 a, for example. A relationship between this switch164 and the key 111 a is such one that, each time a user depresses thekey 111 a, for example, this switch 164 connects its movable contact 164m to one fixed contact 164 a or the other fixed contact 164 brepeatedly.

In this example, a voltage supplied from the power-supply circuit 161 tothe movable contact 164 m of the mode change-over switch 164 isselectively supplied to control terminals of the power-supply switches162 and 163 as an operation voltage each time the switch 164 is changedin position specifically, when the movable contact 164 m of the modechange-over switch 164, for example, is connected to one fixed contact164 a, the power-supply circuit 161 supplies a voltage signal whichenergizes the switch 162 through a diode D1 to the telephone processingsection 100 a and supplies a voltage signal which energizes the switch163 through a diode D2 to the recording and reproducing section 100 b.Accordingly, in this state, the voltage is supplied to both of thetelephone processing section 100 a and the recording and reproducingsection 100 b so that the two processing sections 100 a, 100 b areenergized. Then, while the mode change-over switch 164 is connecting themovable contact 164 m to the other fixed contact 164 b, the power-supplycircuit 161 supplies a voltage signal which energizes only the switch163 through a diode D3 to the recording and reproducing section 100 b.Accordingly, in this state, the voltage is supplied to only therecording and reproducing section 100 b and the telephone processingsection 100 a is not energized.

As described above, with the arrangement in which the switch ischanged-over, there may be set the mode in which the voltage is suppliedto energize only the recording and reproducing section 100 b.

While all operations of the circuits comprising the telephone processingsection 100 a are stopped when the telephone function stop mode is setas described above, the present invention is not limited thereto, andonly operation of a part of the circuits may be stopped. Specifically,since the telephone function stop mode is fundamentally used in thesituation in which the radio telephone terminal 100 is not able totransmit radio waves, only the circuit which operates to output radiowaves may be stopped.

FIG. 14 is a schematic block diagram showing an example of anarrangement required when only operation of a part of circuits isstopped. In this example, the transmitting circuit 134 is adapted to beenergized by the voltage supplied from the power-supply circuit 161.Specifically, as shown in FIG. 14, the transmitting circuit 134comprises a modulating circuit 134 a for modulating transmission data, afrequency-converting circuit 134 b for frequency-converting the thusmodulated transmission signal to provide a transmission channel signaland an amplifying circuit 134 c for amplifying the transmission signalfrequency-converted by the frequency-converting circuit 134 b up to thetransmission output. The amplifying circuit 134 c is connected to theantenna sharing unit 131, and the output from the amplifying circuit 134c is supplied through the antenna sharing unit 131 to the antenna 121.Further, a power-supply switch 165 which can be energized andde-energized under control of the CPU 135 is connected to a line throughwhich a voltage is supplied to the amplifying circuit 134 c within thetransmitting circuit 134. With this arrangement, when the telephonefunction stop mode is set, only the supply of the voltage to theamplifying circuit 134 c is stopped and other circuits 134 a, 134 bwithin the transmitting circuit 134 are still being energized by thevoltage. Although not shown in FIG. 14, the receiving circuit 132 andthe audio processing section 133 (see FIG. 1) also are still beingenergized by the voltage.

With the above arrangement, when the telephone function stop mode is setthe supply of the transmission signal from the amplifying circuit 134 cthrough the antenna sharing unit 131 to the antenna 121 is interruptedso that this portable telephone terminal does not radiate radio waves.Then, since other circuits for executing the transmission processing andthe reception processing are being energized by the voltage, when thetelephone function stop mode, for example, is canceled, the portabletelephone terminal may be placed immediately in the situation underwhich it can make an outgoing call and receive an incoming call. In thiscase, since the receiving circuit 132 and the audio reproducing circuit133 shown in FIG. 1 are being energized, then only the processing forreceiving a signal transmitted from the base station, for example,becomes possible. Accordingly, in the case of this example, even in thesituation under which the telephone function stop mode is set, it can bedetermined whether or not the current position of this portabletelephone terminal 100 lies within a communication area. Moreover, theservice area can be displayed based on the judged result.

While only the supply of the voltage to the amplifying circuit 134 cprovided at the final stage within the transmitting circuit 134 iscontrolled in the example of FIG. 14, the present invention is notlimited thereto, and the supply of the voltage to amplifying circuits(not shown) in other circuits within the transmitting circuit 134 may becontrolled in a similar manner.

When the telephone function stop mode is set, only the supply of thevoltage to all of the circuits within the transmitting circuit 134 maybe stopped and the voltage may be supplied to the receiving circuit 132and the audio processing section 133. Even with this arrangement, onlythe receiving function can be energized similarly to the case shown inFIG. 14.

While the receiving circuit 132 is energized and the high-frequencyprocessing is executed within the receiving circuit 132 so that ahigh-frequency signal of a small amount is leaked to the outside of theportable telephone terminal, if the leakage of the high-frequency signalbecomes serious, then when the telephone function stop mode is set, thereception processing may be stopped by interrupting the supply of thevoltage to the receiving circuit 132.

While the audio data is recorded on the inserted memory card and therecorded audio data is reproduced as described above, the presentinvention is not limited thereto, and the portable telephone terminalmay be operated as an audio recording and reproducing apparatus in whichaudio data recorded through the microphone housed within the portabletelephone terminal or audio data of a telephone call obtained when theportable telephone terminal is used as the telephone may be stored inthe memory within the memory card and the recorded audio data may bereproduced, if necessary. In this case, while the processing for data tobe stored may be the same as the encode processing (compressionprocessing) and the decode processing (inverse-compression processing)required when audio data such as music data is stored in the memory, thepresent invention is not limited thereto, and an encode processing and adecode processing with a higher data compression ratio suitable foraudio data of a telephone conversation may be executed.

While all of the audio recording and reproducing functions incorporatedwithin the portable telephone terminal are limited in the aboveembodiment, the present invention is not limited thereto, and a part ofthe recording and reproducing functions may be limited based on somesuitable conditions such as a contract with a telephone. For example,only the reproduction of audio data downloaded onto the portabletelephone terminal 100 from a predetermined center through the radiotelephone network line and stored in the memory within the memory card10 may be limited based on the contract made by the portable telephoneterminal as the telephone and the reproduction of audio data stored inthe memory card 10 by other device may not be limited by the existenceof the contract for the telephone. In this case, when audio datadownloaded through the telephone network line is stored in the memorycard 10, information indicative of such downloaded audio data may beadded to audio data and the resultant data may be stored in the memorycard 10.

While the memory card is used as the available recording medium (storagemedium) as described above, the present invention is not limitedthereto, and other recording medium can be used. When the memory is usedas the storage medium, a storage means in which the above memory ispreviously incorporated within the terminal apparatus may be used andinhibited from being changed.

While the audio data and sound data reproducing function and recording(storage) function are incorporated into the telephone terminalapparatus as described above, when other function is incorporated intothe telephone terminal apparatus, the incorporated function may becontrolled similarly. For example, when other data such as image dataand game program are stored in the memory instead of the audio data andits reproduction function is incorporated into the terminal apparatus,the image reproduction function and the game executing function may belimited in a similar manner.

For example, if the telephone terminal apparatus is provided with thetelephone function stop mode, then when the telephone function stop modeis set, the telephone function section may be stopped by energizing thefunction section other than the recording and reproducing functionsection incorporated into the terminal apparatus. For example, as shownin FIG. 15, the radio communication terminal incorporates a mail dataprocessing section 100 c in addition to the telephone processing section100 a. The mail data processing section 100 c can display and edit maildata of received characters and images and can input characters andimages which are to be transmitted as mail data. A power-supply switch162 is connected to a path through which a voltage is supplied from thepower-supply circuit 161 to the telephone processing section 100 a and apower-supply switch 163 is connected to a path through which a voltageis supplied from the power-supply circuit 161 to the mail dataprocessing section 100 c. Then, the two switches 162, 163 may becontrolled by the CPU 135 in response to the setting situation of thetelephone function stop mode similarly to the case of the example ofFIG. 12. With the above arrangement, in the state in which the radiotelephone function of this radio communication terminal is stopped, thedisplay portion becomes able to display and input character mail.

Further, the radio communication terminal may incorporate a browsingfunction section for the browser of the Internet. Then, when thetelephone function stop mode is set, only data received at andaccumulated in the browsing function section can be displayed. In thiscase, while the telephone function stop mode is being set, only datathat has been accumulated before the telephone function stop mode is setcan be displayed. When data received at the telephone function sectionis displayed in real time, the telephone function stop mode should becanceled.

While the operation of the telephone terminal apparatus is stopped bycontrolling the supply of the voltage to the circuit for stopping theoperation of the telephone function section when the telephone functionstop mode is set as described above, the operation of the telephonefunction section may be stopped by other method. For example, while thetelephone terminal apparatus is being powered, the telephone functionsection may be restricted in a software fashion so as not to be operatedunder control of the CPU, or the like.

While the portable telephone terminal using the radio telephone networkline is used as the communication terminal as described above, thepresent invention is not limited thereto, and in a communication systemthat can be used by only a specific terminal apparatus registered on thesystem side operating a communication network line, functions other thanthe communication function incorporated within each terminal apparatusmay be controlled in a similar manner.

Having described a preferred embodiment of the invention with referenceto the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the inventionis not limited to that precise embodiment and that various changes andmodifications could be effected therein by one skilled in the artwithout departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as definedin the appended claims.

1. A communication terminal apparatus comprising: radio communicationmeans for communicating with a predetermined base station by radiowaves; first data processing means for processing data transmitted bysaid radio communication means and data received by said radiocommunication means; memory card holding means for holding a detachablememory card; second data processing means connected to said memory cardholding means for executing a predetermined function that is not relatedto said data processing by said first data processing means; operationmeans for executing operations to execute said predetermined function;and control means for controlling said processing at said radiocommunication means and said first data processing means and said seconddata processing means and enabling said second data processing means toexecute said processing only when it is determined that a settingconcerning said communication satisfies a constant condition, whereinsaid execution of said predetermined function by said operation means islimited when a registration processing is not executed, the registrationprocessing includes receiving and registering controlling datatransmitted by said predetermined base station, and said registrationprocessing further comprises registering data identifying saidcommunication terminal on a communication management center connected tosaid predetermined base station, and data for limiting saidpredetermined function at said communication terminal is transmittedwhen identification data transmitted from said communication terminal isidentification data that is not registered on said communicationmanagement center.
 2. The communication terminal apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein said constant condition determined by said controlmeans is that identification data by which said radio communicationmeans can communicate with said predetermined base station or saidterminal apparatus is registered.
 3. The communication terminalapparatus according to claim 1, wherein said constant conditiondetermined by said control means is that said data received by saidradio communication means is not stored.
 4. The communication terminalapparatus according to claim 3, wherein said data is data for rejectinga registration sent in response to a position registration requestingsignal transmitted to said predetermined base station when a powerswitch of said terminal apparatus is turned on.
 5. The communicationterminal apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said data is data forrejecting a registration sent in response to a position registrationrequesting signal transmitted to said predetermined base station whensaid position of a terminal apparatus is moved.
 6. The communicationterminal apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said constant conditiondetermined by said control means is that a period during which saidradio communication means does not transmit or receive data normallyfalls within a predetermined period.